Stem Cell News

The Neural Stem Cell Institute and the University at Albany Team
With Capital Region Family to Advance Research into Rare Disease

Renssselaer, NY — Investigators at the Neural Stem Cell Institute are collaborating with University at Albany researchers from the RNA Institute and the Cancer Research Center, to team up with the Capital Region family of six year-old Hannah Sames, to raise awareness and funding in order to develop a systematic approach to discover therapies for rare diseases, specifically Giant Axonal Neuropathy (GAN).

The mission of Hannah’s Hope Fund is to raise funding for research to find treatment and a cure for GAN, a rare genetic disorder that slowly takes away one’s ability to walk, use one’s hands, speak, swallow and is terminal.

“Utilizing new stem cell techniques can help us understand diseases of the nervous system like GAN. This offers great hope to patients and families for finding cure for these devastating conditions and we are very pleased to support this great cause,” said Dr. Sally Temple, Scientific Director of the Neural Stem Cell Institute.

About NSCI: The Neural Stem Cell Institute is a unique organization that produces leading stem cell research to develop new therapies for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). As the only independent, non-profit neural stem cell research institute in the USA, NSCI aims to harness the power of stem cells to ease suffering caused by injury and disease of the brain, spinal cord and retina. NSCI is led by MacArthur Award winner Dr. Sally Temple who helped discover and define nervous system stem cells. Dr. Temple recruited leading researchers from around the world to help translate discovery research into new therapies for CNS repair including age-related macular degeneration, spinal cord injury, multiple sclerosis and Parkinson’s disease.

Our Unique Organization

The Neural Stem Cell Institute (NSCI) is dedicated to developing regenerative stem cell therapies for various diseases of the central nervous system (CNS): the brain, spinal cord and retina, regardless of the cause of injury. Led by MacArthur “Genius” Award winner Dr. Sally Temple who helped discover and define nervous system stem cells, NSCI is the first independent, non-profit stem cell research institute in the USA.